Current State of the Market for Rebuilding an E31?

[Hellfromabove]

Hey all,

I've been looking around for an E31 850 and may have come across one that could be rebuilt. However, upon closer inspection, it seems like a lot of bits and bobs for the interior and in the engine bay are missing. In the engine bay, it really seems like only the engine is really present. Inside, things like the steering wheel column cover are missing. There's no transmission (not sure if it has the drive shaft or not).

I'm fine with picking up a big project, but want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head. My plan was to do a 6 speed manual swap on the vehicle as well. I have been doing research and still have more to do, but was wondering around these parts. From peoples' experience here, are these parts quite readily available on the second hand market and are they not very expensive? What about the transmission, was anything required from the original automatic transmission for the swap? I'd like to get the vehicle back to OEM, but could cut corners with parts from non-bmw vehicles if required. Just looking to get some info and opinions here. Would love to pick this thing up and get it back on the road. Thanks guys.

[Ericks2002]

Parts are very expensive if even available. I’ve had a hard time tracking down parts. Everyone seems to be looking for the same stuff. All the manual parts for the 8 series are specific to the 8 series ( trans, clutch, driveshaft, guibo). Currently a clutch and pressure plate plus throwout bearing will run you $2500 from the dealer. Then you need a trans so that’s another 3k used or 8k new. I’m not sure you can even get a flywheel at the moment. Plus other parts that Bmw doesn’t make anymore.

You would be much better off buying a complete car than buying a car missing parts. But even sorted cars will most likely require a good chunk of change getting them to 100%.

[rjjablo]

Most everything is expensive, they only made 30K ish of them worldwide and a lot of them have already been scrapped due to expensive maintenance

Sounds like you have a line on a parts car. Most likely the most saleable and expensive parts have already been taken off.

An example is the center vent in the dash. Often broken, and very expensive to replace and specific to the E31.

[olinjohnston]

Even if the car was free, it would not be worthwhile to buy what it needs. You would be in it much deeper than buying one that is already complete.

[dragon850]

Oh brother....
Here it goes again, I will sum up what everyone already said here: " the most expensive E31 is the cheapest E31".
Unless you have unlimited time and finances and unlimited patience I recommend you pick a decent E31. Mind You a decent E31 will still need 10k to bring it up to respectable condition....

[cartoonz]

I can do all of it.... for a price
Trouble is, the price to get this one where you want it to be will exceed its value by a good margin.

[aorbeta]

Purchased an 840 in September 2022. I haven’t been in this community as long as the other members commenting have, but speaking from recent experience try to find a car that’s been sorted as much as possible.

Parts are tough to find, I regularly search ebay, facebook forums, Instagram, etc searching for NLA parts. I easily have more invested into the car than what I purchased it for, and this car already had the body stripped/repainted, CSi bodykit, interior refreshed etc. from the previous owner.

Taking the above into consideration it also depends on what your goal for the car is, I personally don’t mind the hunt for parts and find it entertaining as a project car. It’s part of the journey for me as it’s an occasion car and not a daily

[m6bigdog]

Oh brother....
...said here: "the most expensive E31 is the cheapest E31".
...I recommend you pick a decent E31. Mind You a decent E31 will still need 10k to bring it up to respectable condition....

Truer words were never spoken.

A couple more things;
In todays dollars, the E31 would cost almost twice the original MSRP. 1997 850Ci @ $95,000 would cost $180,000...
Also, many critical replacement parts cost have now lost the economy of scale (manufacturing volume discounts) and are either NLA or 3-4 times the cost in the 1990's.
Also, paying todays labor-rate to have others "attempt" to repair a 25-30 year old BMW Flag-Ship E31, is unreasonable.
Hence, an E31 cannot be refurbished or maintained on a budget..
The budget only meant the E31's condition will degrade until unusable/unreliable with mileage/age where the only remaining value is parting-out.

IMHO:
Find a low-mileage late model (V8-M62/V12-M73) E31 in very good to excellent condition (Garage Queen) and buy it when you find one - buy it from where ever you can.
Doesn't mean it wouldn't need some work, just less expensive work.
You'll end up with more car, a low mileage late model E31, that will cost less (maybe even a lot less) in total, than trying to restore an early model beater; high-mileage project car.

E31-850-M70, Auto/Manual, early model built until 1994, is the most available with 4200 cars into NA(USA & Canada).
E31-840-M60/M62, are a later V8 model (1994-1997) with 2500 examples in NA.
E31-850-M73, is a very rare later V12 (1995-1997) with only 363 imported into NA.
E31-850CSi-S70, if you are concerned about cost then don't bother...

For comparison research:
https://bringatrailer.com/bmw/e31-8-series/

[exalted]

If it is very cheap it could be an interesting project car to do something crazy with, but original restoring a E31 is basically not worth it these days as anything but a hobby unless it is a special car of some kind. It is far cheaper to buy one in good shape and perfecting it.

[Hellfromabove]

Thanks all for your feedback and opinions. I figured this was the case, but wanted to confirm my suspicions. I've landed on a few 850s and have contacted the owners to see if a deal can be made. Hopefully I get to join the club soon!

[TedBobo]

Thanks all for your feedback and opinions. I figured this was the case, but wanted to confirm my suspicions. I've landed on a few 850s and have contacted the owners to see if a deal can be made. Hopefully I get to join the club soon!

Is one located in Indiana?

[Hellfromabove]

Is one located in Indiana?

I think I came across that one, but I was trying to find the right fixer-upper that was in-line with the information posted by the other members. Was it the Oxford Green Metallic one with the tan interior?

I did just land on one and got it paid for. I'll post up pics once it arrives. I appreciate all your guys' opinions, information, and knowledge.

[Hellfromabove]

Took delivery of the vehicle this morning. Just submitted a post for a build thread here in the E31 section. Hopefully I can get this baby back on the road soon. Time will tell though.